Mental health center coming soon to Austin ISD campus
AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Mental Health Awareness month closes, a groundbreaking at Martin Middle School this week aims to further Austin ISD's goal of expanding mental health support for its students.
The final phase of modernizations to the school begins Tuesday morning in East Austin. Once complete, the school will have new HVAC, electric and plumbing systems, along with a planned mental health center.
Dr. LaShanda Lewis, executive director of AISD's Crisis and Mental Counseling, said there are a handful of mental health centers across the district.
Once the center is complete, it will look similar to a classroom but more cozy and comfortable to put students at ease, Lewis said. She said there will be space for group counseling to take place, as well as a more private area for students to meet one-on-one with licensed mental health providers.
Lewis said post-COVID is when the need for mental health support became apparent to the district, as students navigated the transition from at-home to classroom learning.
'If our students are not emotionally and mentally well, they're not going to go into those classrooms and function at the highest caliber that they need to be academically successful and transition into the next phase in their lives,' Lewis said.
Modernization efforts at Martin MS are expected to finish by fall 2027.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Southlake Carroll announces new high school principals
Two educators with years of leadership experience in the Carroll school district were chosen to replace two high school principals who left for other jobs after their contracts were not renewed beyond 2026. Shatina Lewis, who was principal at Carroll Middle, was named principal at Carroll Senior High School and Patrick Holladay, principal at Johnson Elementary, is now principal at Carroll High School. Lewis replaces Ryan Wilson, who was hired last week as the principal at Sagniaw Boswell. Holladay takes over for Christina Benhoff, who was hired May 15 as the principal at Keller Timber Creek High School. Superintendent Jeremy Glenn announced the leadership changes during Monday night's school board meeting. 'Changes in school leadership are unsettling,' he said. 'We recognize that transitions can create uncertainty,' Glenn said. Lewis was principal at Carroll Middle School for over three years. During her time as principal, she fostered academic excellence and strong community partnerships, the district said in a statement. Before becoming principal at Carroll Middle, Lewis was an assistant principal at Dawson Middle School. She began her career in the district in 2014 as an English teacher at Carroll Senior High. Holladay taught high school math for 20 years throughout North Texas. Holladay was assistant principal at the Mansfield school district's Donna Shepard Intermediate Leadership Academy for six years before coming to the Carroll school district. Glenn also announced that Stefan Benadetti, teacher of the year in 2023, is the district's choir director.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Donaldson Appoints Richard Lewis Chief Operating Officer
MINNEAPOLIS, June 02, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI), a leading worldwide provider of innovative filtration products and solutions, today announced the appointment of Richard Lewis as chief operating officer, effective August 1, 2025. In his new role, Lewis will oversee the company's three segments as well as its enterprise operations and supply chain, and corporate technology functions. He will continue to report to Tod Carpenter, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Rich is an experienced leader with a track record of consistent operational success through a broad range of dynamic and challenging market conditions," said Carpenter. "During his 23 years with Donaldson, he has achieved a deep understanding of our global portfolio of businesses, end markets, and customers' needs. I look forward to partnering with Rich to further strengthen execution of our strategy and drive value creation for all of our stakeholders." Lewis is currently president of the company's Life Sciences segment and will continue to perform that role until a successor is named. During his tenure within Donaldson, Lewis has held several key leadership positions including President, Mobile Solutions and Senior Vice President, Global Operations. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Louisville and an MBA from Indiana University. "I am honored to step into the COO role and lead operations for the company's diversified portfolio of businesses," said Lewis. "I am eager to continue working with our strong leadership team to deliver our innovative solutions for customers around the globe and further our collective success." About Donaldson Company Founded in 1915, Donaldson (NYSE: DCI) is a global leader in technology-led filtration products and solutions, serving a broad range of industries and advanced markets. Diverse, skilled employees at over 140 locations on six continents partner with customers - from small business owners to R&D organizations and the world's biggest OEM brands. Donaldson solves complex filtration challenges through three primary segments: Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions and Life Sciences. Additional information is available at View source version on Contacts For more information, contact: Sarika Dhadwal (952)
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bill to require Texas illegal immigration impact study dies
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It's been nearly 20 years since Texas last studied the impact of mass deportations, and there's no plan to revisit the effort anytime soon. As the federal government continues widespread deportations of undocumented immigrants and workers, a bill that would have required an annual study of the effect unauthorized migrants have on the state has died. Senate Bill 825 would have required a biennial report cataloging the economic, environmental and financial impacts of illegal immigration. The governor's office could have contracted with a state or federal agency, a nonprofit or an institution of higher education to conduct the research. In 2006, former Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn released the first, and last, comprehensive study on unauthorized workers' impact on the state's finances. Undocumented immigrants in Texas generated 'more taxes and other revenue than the state spends on them,' the study found. Employing undocumented workers in Texas is illegal, but rarely enforced Back then, 31% of undocumented immigrants worked in the service industry, followed by 19% in construction. The study found a quarter of all farm workers were undocumented. Deporting 1.4 million undocumented workers would have dropped gross state product by $17.7 billion with the state unable to fully recover the loss of labor over a 20-year period, according to the report. Today, the American Immigration Council, estimates Texas has more than two million undocumented immigrants making up 9% of the workforce. The AIC estimates 27% of construction workers, 17% of agriculture workers and 11% of manufacturing jobs in the state are done by undocumented workers. But, without official data, the exact numbers are hard to know. EXPLORE: KXAN's Undocumented investigative series Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller previously acknowledged 'we don't have the data,' but said, 'using cowboy logic,' he didn't foresee much economic damage from a spike in immigration enforcement — at least not for farming, which his office oversees. 'I'm not advocating spending a lot of tax dollars on it,' Miller told KXAN last month when asked if the state should revisit the issue and once again study the economic impact. 'The private industry is moving so fast I don't know that they could even catch them at this point. So, at some point, it would be nice to at least get 20 years [of] updated [data] and see what we've got. And, I think we could do that…with pretty reasonable research.' Miller credited automation and new technology for lessening the need to hire undocumented farm workers. Amid ongoing reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on businesses and job sites around the country a KXAN investigation previously found the federal government has focused far more on going after migrants than the bosses who hire and pay them. SB 825 passed the Senate but never made it to a floor vote in the House. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
